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The reading προσέκοψʼ ἐν is a textual crux found in the manuscript tradition of Aristophanes' Wasps (line 1305). While the majority of manuscripts (the vulgate) read προσέκοψ' ἐν, some ancient authorities and the scholia suggest a different punctuation or reading that affects the syntax of the verb with the dative. The phrase is a colloquialism where the verb 'to stumble' (προσκόπτω) is used with a preposition that is often omitted or varies in the comic tradition, creating ambiguity as to whether the subject stumbled 'upon' the slippers (embades) or if the slippers themselves are the object of a different verbal action implied by the context of the legal proceedings. This variation is significant for understanding the physical comedy of the scene, where the character Philocleon is likely tripping over the very slippers he wears, a detail that hinges on the textual transmission of the preposition.
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The verb βουβωνιῴη (aorist optative of βουβωνίζω) is a hapax legomenon in the surviving corpus of Aristophanes and a rare formation in Attic comedy. Derived from βῶν (scrotum) or βουβῶν (groin), it is a coined verb meaning 'to swell in the groin' or 'to suffer from buboes.' The construction relies on the comic convention of using bodily ailments as metaphors for political or social infection; here, the character (likely Philocleon) suggests that his master, Bdelycleon, would be afflicted with bubonic plague symptoms were he to attempt to restrain him. The optative with ἂν indicates a potential condition, but the specific lexical choice creates a grotesque pun on the 'swelling' of the city's political ailments, a device rare even for Old Comedy's bodily humor.
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πάθος οἰκτίρας· ἤ με κεραυνῷ
The phrase πάθος οἰκτίρας is syntactically and metrically problematic. The accusative πάθος (or perhaps nominative in a rare construction) combined with the genitive οἰκτίρας (likely a form of οἰκτίρα) creates an ambiguous relationship that has led to various conjectures. Some editors suggest οἰκτίρας should be emended to οἰκτίραν to make it a direct object, while others propose that the construction reflects a colloquial or poetic usage where the genitive denotes the cause of the πάθος. The meter of the line also demands careful consideration, as the current reading may not scan properly in the iambic trimeter.
The word κεραυνῷ (with the dative singular) is unusual in this context, as it typically means 'lightning' or 'thunderbolt,' but here it may be used metaphorically to refer to a sudden and devastating blow. This metaphorical usage is rare in Aristophanes and requires careful interpretation to understand the full force of the speaker's statement. The phrase ἤ με κεραυνῷ could be interpreted as 'or me with a thunderbolt,' suggesting a threat or a sudden calamity, but the exact nuance depends on the broader context of the scene.
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The verb ἀριθμέω (to count) with a direct object in the accusative is standard, but the specific construction here—'they count the piglets'—is a metonymic usage where the counting of young pigs serves as a metaphor for the meticulous, bureaucratic, and often absurdly literal accounting performed by the chorus of old men (the 'wasps') in their judicial deliberations. This reflects the play's central satire of the Athenian legal system, where citizens are depicted as obsessively tracking trivialities (like the number of piglets in a specific district) rather than substantive justice, a theme developed throughout the parabasis and the trial of the dog. The phrase is not merely descriptive of agricultural activity but is a deliberate rhetorical device to characterize the chorus's hyper-literalism and their transformation into 'jurors' who count everything but judge nothing.
